Diversity, equality & inclusion

June marks the month-long celebration of Pride and it is great to see the country awash with the colourful rainbow, a meaningful representation of inclusion and progression. This year’s theme for Pride is Community and after a difficult and isolating year, this focus takes on a whole new precedence as so many of us discovered a greater appreciation for our community and sense of togetherness in both our personal and professional lives.  In celebration of Pride Month, the Institute’s Young Professionals, Diversity & Inclusion Committee and CA Support service hosted the annual LGBTQ+ event yesterday. Our ‘Celebrating Inclusion’ event brought together a panel of successful LGBTQ+ business leaders who shared their own personal experiences of being LGBTQ+ in the workplace and how organisations are adapting to social changes. It was an extremely thought-provoking and insightful event. However, while overall societal shifts, diversity and inclusion initiatives have made great strides in helping to support and celebrate our LGBTQ+ community, from our work in CA Support, we know that difficulties, hardship and discrimination still remain. A recent survey released by BeLonG To Youth Services during Pride Month shows the mental health of LGBTQ+ young people has acutely deteriorated during Covid-19. The research found that 97% of LGBTQ+ youth are struggling with anxiety, stress, or depression.  In 2019, the Central Statistics Office (CSO) released figures which showed those who identify as LGBTQ+ reported the highest rates of discrimination in Irish society and 17.5% of the community have experienced workplace discrimination. Coping with such concerns can have a detrimental impact on our wellbeing, self-esteem and the general navigation of our daily lives. Feeling empowered to express who you are freely in the workplace and beyond is crucial to your mental health. If you are struggling with any worries or challenges around these important personal issues, Thrive is here to help all year around. We offer a wide range of services including free counselling services and career coaching to support our community who are in need. Happy Pride!

Diversity & Inclusion initiatives aren’t just there to avoid controversy; they should be there for life. Orla McAuliffe outlines six key changes that can be made to D&I efforts to make a better, smarter and more effective organisation. Diversity and Inclusion (D&I) is often spotlighted among significant, life-defining issues of gender, race, disability, or sexual orientation. It is often assumed that if these issues are not relevant to your workplace, it doesn’t need your attention. However, if you make space and time for D&I in the workplace before it becomes necessary, your business, workforce, and customer base will all benefit. Rather than being treated as merely a tool to avoid controversy, an effective D&I programme will lead to a new appreciation for the diversity of thought, inclusive leadership models, and customer diversity. What is often overlooked is that the introduction of D&I initiatives not only ticks legal boxes and avoids problems; it also encourages the growth of your business in incredible ways. Increased employee retention, growth in productivity rates, increasingly satisfied customers, and a rise in online attention and positive reviews can all be traced back to real-life examples of D&I success stories. Managers take the lead Anyone can and should strive to make their workplace more diverse and inclusive. However, it is vital that leaders – who are ideally from a range of demographic backgrounds themselves – are seen to be genuinely enthusiastic about fostering cultural diversity in their organisation. Additionally, these leaders must include and work with middle management on this issue. Six things leaders can do to promote D&I Workplaces can take a few practical steps to become more diverse and inclusive without a full D&I plan or training: Review your company’s website and other materials and update the imagery so that all demographic groups are represented somehow. Allow flexible work hours and location. Particularly in the post-COVID-19 world, remote working should not be treated as a bonus but as a fact of life. It is a gamechanger for many individuals with specific physical needs, family responsibilities, or neuro-divergencies (such as dyslexia or autism spectrum disorder) who may otherwise be intimidated by the office environment. Not only are you giving them an opportunity to work, but their fresh and unique perspective will often make a significant impact on your team and contribute to your workplace’s diversity of thinking. Make your physical workplace inclusive. The legal accessibility requirements should be treated as the bare minimum. Check the temperature (most buildings default to men’s comfort zone, not women’s); think about buying sanitary products for the bathroom; buying non-alcoholic and alcoholic beer for staff events; and providing milk alternatives in the canteen. Avoid using unnecessarily gendered language in all literature, from job descriptions to everyday communications. This goes beyond the use of pronouns and extends to language more generally. For example, using gender-coded words like ‘aggressive’ in a job description may dissuade women from applying. Instead, focus on results-oriented job descriptions. Familiarise yourself with the world calendar and bear in mind that employees, customers, and suppliers may belong to different cultures and observe different holidays. Include events such as Pride month, and engage in a way that feels sincere and natural – not everybody needs or wants a parade. Still, customers and employees appreciate feeling seen and valued. Engage with your community and partner with non-profits or local organisations, particularly those that mirror your existing business model. Orla McAuliffe is Founder of the Professional Training Centre.

While diversity and inclusion have become commonplace, much needs to be done to embed them in organisations. Andrea Dermody gives us five steps on how you can implement it effectively on a day-to-day basis. The term ‘diversity and inclusion’ (D&I) is becoming more commonplace. People are familiar with the concept of diversity, but what does inclusion mean? Inclusion is when people feel included, treated fairly and respectfully, in a culture where they are valued and have a sense of belonging. According to research in Juliet Bourke’s report, Which Two Heads Are Better Than One? How Diverse Teams Create Breakthrough Ideas and Make Smarter Decisions, inclusive organisations are six times more likely to be innovative and agile and eight times more likely to achieve better business outcomes. So why does inclusion continue to be an afterthought to diversity? What are the practical things you can do to build an inclusive culture in your team and organisation? Define – Create a definition of inclusion that works for your organisation. What makes you and your colleagues feel included at work? Then, understand that inclusion is not just a two-line definition. You need to clearly state what every day behaviours ensure your people will feel included, such as: being actively listened to and understood; being treated fairly and with respect; actively included in discussions; feeling like ideas and opinions are valued; having teams that work together to achieve results; witnessing managers develop colleagues equally; and having managers actively resolve team conflict. Develop – Build up your managers and colleagues to understand inclusion by incorporating the definition and behaviours into your existing learning and development. Some may already behave inclusively, but if you really want to address how people are treated in your organisation, you need to influence everyone’s behaviour every day, and make this behaviour deliberate and conscious. Champion – Promote a clear ‘tone from the top’ around diversity and inclusion, ensuring that leaders understand the value of, and are committed to, delivering inclusion. Diversity without inclusion does not drive the full benefit to the organisation – hiring underrepresented talent without an inclusive environment in which to share their expertise and thrive is a waste of time. Measure – Figure out how to measure success. Does your employee survey ask about the behaviours you have identified as inclusive? If you don’t have this information now, build it into future surveys. In the meantime, run focus groups and gauge how people feel they are treated at work, ask them what makes them feel included and then action your findings. Reward – Use your employee survey, 360 feedback, performance reviews and focus groups to measure whether leaders are effectively building inclusion into their teams, and then reward and promote accordingly. People will see that you are rewarding inclusive behaviour and actions. This highlights positive role models in the organisation and creates a path for progression which requires an inclusive style. These five steps at an organisation or team level will lead to: individuals who are more engaged and have greater intent to stay; colleagues who are willing to speak up when they see something wrong because they are listened to, which helps you identify risks and health and safety issues early; teams that are innovative because they listen to each other respectfully and understand the value of difference, leading to better co-operation; managers who are more productive and fulfilled because they know they are treating their teams fairly and creating an environment where individuals can thrive; and leaders who inspire trust, commitment and loyalty in their people because they take the time to understand and value them as individuals. Andrea Dermody is a diversity and inclusion consultant, speaker and coach at Dermody.